Research Seminar in Economics by Albrecht Glitz (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Research Seminar in Economics by Albrecht Glitz (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Oct 27, 2016 | 12:15 PM - 01:45 PM

On Thursday, October 27, noon-14 pm, Albrecht Glitzfrom Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin will be the speaker of the Research Seminar in Economics. He will present his research paper on "Industrial Espionage and Productivity" at Kaminzimmer (room 202), Boltzmannstraße 20, Berlin-Dahlem.

Industrial Espionage and Productivity

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the economic returns to industrial espionage by linking information from East Germany’s foreign intelligence service to sector-specific gaps in total factor productivity (TFP) between West and East Germany. Based on a data set that comprises the entire flow of information provided by East German informants over the period 1969-1989, we document a significant narrowing of sectoral West-to-East TFP gaps as a result of East Germany’s industrial espionage. This central finding holds across a wide range of specifications and is robust to the inclusion of several alternative proxies for technology transfer. We further demonstrate that the economic returns to industrial espionage are particularly strong in sectors that were closer to the West German technology frontier and – albeit less precisely estimated – in sectors in which constraints to the import of goods and services were particularly pronounced. Finally, our findings show that over the time period considered, industrial espionage crowded out standard overt R&D in East Germany.

For more information on the program of the Economic Research Seminar please klick follow this link.